1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector device having a visual indicator, and particularly to a modular receptacle jack having a visual indicator to provide a visual indication of a connection formed by the modular receptacle jack with a mating modular plug jack.
2. The Prior Art
A modular receptacle jack with a visual indicator to indicate a connection of the modular receptacle jack with a mating modular plug jack is known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,317 discloses a modular receptacle jack having LEDs integrally secured to a housing of the jack. However, such a prior art requires a new mold to form the modular receptacle jack. In accordance with the disclosures of the '317 patent, existing jacks and molds for forming them can not be used to produce the modular receptacle jack having a visual indication function. Such a disadvantage causes an inconvenience and increases costs for modular jack manufacturers since they must alter their original equipment to produce the modular receptacle jacks. Prior to '317 patent, an indicator attached to the existing modular jack has been disclosed to achieve the visual indication function, however, the structure of the indicator and the attaching procedure thereof are relatively complicated. Furthermore, such a modular receptacle jack combined with the indicator is relatively bulky which is undesirable in view of the trend of the electronics industry toward increased compactness.
Hence, a modular receptacle jack with a visual indication function is required which can overcome the problems as mentioned above.